Andrew Taylor, the man who changed his health and food addiction by eating potatoes only for a whole year, said something on a recent webinar that got me thinking. He said we should make our food boring and our lives interesting. I’ve been pondering on that sentence for the past several weeks. I don’t want my food to be boring, but at the same time there’s a lot of truth in what he said. Our lives revolve way too much around food. What to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and how often, are topics that can control our days, even our lives.
Now food is very important. In fact, the food choices we make today can have a powerful impact in our future for better or for worse. However, being healthy should not be complicated. It shouldn’t take over our lives. It should be simple. Something we do every day because it’s important, but not so complex that we need a degree in nutrition.
How can we keep our foods simple yet attractive and nutritious? For starters, make your diet plant strong or plant based. The research strongly suggests that a diet rich in plant foods is the healthiest for us, helping prevent chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. A plant strong diet strengthens our immune system and helps our body fight the constant attacks of daily living. Less allergies anyone? Besides, if the focus of your meals are plants, you don’t really have to worry about portions or calories. How cool is that?
Then be creative, keep it simple, and have fun making delicious meals that are full of nutrition. Make salads your main dish. Create a big bowl or fill a large plate with all kinds of greens, veggies, beans, and nuts. You can buy pre-washed greens, or take a few minutes to wash some lettuce and refrigerate it in large zip loc bags for use during the week. Enjoy grilled, steamed, or roasted vegetables, endless diversity of beans, vegetable strong soups, loaded baked potatoes, fresh fruits, whole wheat breads, and other whole grains. Nutritious smoothies can be quickly prepared with frozen fruit and a handful of spinach or kale. Family physician and nutrition expert Dr. Fuhrman recommends one pound of fresh raw vegetables and one pound of cooked vegetables per day, in addition to fruits, beans, and mushrooms among others. When it comes to plant foods, with a few exceptions such as avocados and nuts, you can pretty much eat to your heart’s content.
If you can, prepare foods ahead so they’re ready to assemble when you need them. You can have salad fixings washed, chopped, and ready to go. You can prepare dishes ahead and freeze them. I do this with different varieties of beans. I freeze them in quarter size bags to use as needed in my salads, soups, chili, homemade veggie burgers, you name it.
Then focus on your life. Spend time with your family and friends. Make new friends. Enroll in fun classes at your local college. Take up a new hobby or improve on one you already enjoy. Read more books. Pursue new passions. Start that business you’ve been thinking about. Give more. Get involved in your community or other worthy causes. Explore your neighborhood. Go for walks. Travel the country or even the world. Make the one life you’ve been given really, really interesting!